Sunday, September 08, 2013

It's been fun. And so much more.

Today is my final day. I'm voluntarily stepping down after 11 years as a reviewer for Geocaching.com, with about 10 of those years as the reviewer for Iowa. It wasn't an easy decision but after considering things for the past few months, I came to the conclusion that it's time for someone else to step up and assume these duties for Iowa. I'm involved in several different volunteer opportunities as well as being busy with work, recreation and exercise. One of the volunteer activities I've been devoting more of my time to is Team River Runner, which helps heal disabled veterans by getting them into kayaking. I notified Groundspeak of my decision last week and they have made arrangements for other reviewers to begin handling the Iowa queue beginning tomorrow (Monday, Sept 9). To all the geocachers I have emailed, spoken to on the phone, or met in person over the past 11 years, I say thank you for the good times -- because they truly have been good. I very much enjoyed working and playing with each of you to get your caches published. I will always cherish the friendships I've made all across the state. Iowa geocachers are the best! I'll also cherish the friendships I've made with my fellow reviewers around the world. But this is not good-bye. Even though I'm no longer going to be a reviewer, I'll always be a geocacher. I hope to see you again at upcoming events. And maybe we'll run into each other on the way to a geocache somewhere. Meanwhile, I have to get back to the review queue one last time. It's been another busy weekend with lots of new caches submitted so I want to tidy up the place before I turn it over to the next person.

7 comments:

I want to thank you personally for all of the hard work and support you have done as a reviewer for us here in Iowa for all of these years.I have know and worked with you for the 10+ years I have been geocaching and it has been a blessing to have you as our reviewer. You have always been very fair and accommodating with our caches, as well as working with us to fix things to get our caches placed.I know whoever Groundspeak gets to replace you will do a good job, but there isn't an easy way to replace you and all of years of experience working with all of us. I wish you the very best of luck in your next adventures, which I hope some of them bring you to your "second home" here in Iowa.

Just a word of thanks for all the time and effort spent to help make me and all my kids and grandkids be able to enjoy caching. I remember when Josiah (Joey17) found out you were going to be at an event we were going to. All he could think about was "meeting the Admin and asking him some questions." You took the time to shake his hand and answer his questions and treated him as an adult(he was 9). It was the highlight of his weekend!! We will miss your picture on the cache page but you will always be remembered. Hats off to you, Ken!! Thank you very much. Will be seeing you, I'm sure, at an event.

Thank you for all your years as reviewer. I am sure it has been quite a challenge at times, but we appreciate all you have done to keep the game going. I have only met you once at the admin appreciation luncheon, but have spoke to you many times when placing caches. Good luck with all your future ventures, and hopefully we will meet again out on the geocaching trail or at an event.Mark & Sue aka Mon"rose"

Hi Ken,I want to Thank You for all of the years that you have been the Iowa Geocaching reviewer!You have always ‘been there’ for me.Answering my questions and so much more.I hope to meet up with you again, whether in be on the trail or in the river.You have seen Geocaching from its conception to what it currently is.The knowledge that you have and share is remarkable!

Ken,It has been a real pleasure having you as our Admin. I have been caching for just short of 10 years, so I guess we've been in this together pretty much most of the time. Take care and thanks!Schnideraka - Chad Chapman

What others are saying about this blog

...it's interesting to know how people who approve caches think. Glad I came across your blog and I'll be watching for more!

Posted by justjohn, June 18, 2008:

I've just begun my foray into Geocaching here in Okinawa, Japan, and I was looking for a blog like this to help me.Your tips include things that I never would have thought of, even after reading the FAQ on geocaching.com Thanks again!

About Me

I've been geocaching since Feb. 2001, and I've been a reviewer since 2003. As a reviewer, I started out using the ID WGA2, but other reviewers have since used that ID for approving caches in Wisconsin so I started a new ID (IowaAdmin) in July 2005. My "regular" IDs are kbraband (for solo geocaching) and active2gether (for caches I find with my wife). While some reviewers believe in hiding their true identities, I don't do that. I believe that by working together with fellow geocachers to get caches approved according to the geocaching.com guidelines in a cordial and consistent manner, there should be no reason to keep my ID secret.